Family of Iraqi Woman Killed in California Was in Crisis, Records Show

Fatima Alhimidi, 17, center, weeps over her mother's body at the airport after it arrived in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq, for burial.Credit
Alaa Al-Marjani/Associated Press

EL CAJON, Calif. — When Shaima Alawadi, an Iraqi-born mother of five, was found bludgeoned to death in her home last month with a threatening note beside her, many members of the large Middle Eastern immigrant population here feared a hate crime.

But court documents made public this week instead reveal details of a family in crisis, with talk of divorce and a daughter resisting an arranged marriage, and of Ms. Alawadi’s survivors themselves coming under scrutiny from investigators.

From the beginning, the El Cajon police maintained that a hate crime was only one of the possibilities they were exploring. The search warrant affidavit, which was released by mistake to the Web site U-T San Diego on Wednesday and then to other media outlets on Thursday, revealed that the police obtained warrants to search the family’s house and two cars, as well as their phones.

Ms. Alawadi, 32, had been planning to divorce her husband and move to Texas, a family member told the police, according to the search warrant documents. The police reported finding legal documents in Ms. Alawadi’s car to prepare for a divorce.

It was Fatima’s impassioned plea before a local news camera several days after the attack that helped draw international media attention to Ms. Alawadi’s killing. She told a local television station about finding her mother with a note nearby calling her a “terrorist.”

In November, according to the affidavit, El Cajon police officers responded to a call about two people in a parked car, and found Fatima with a 21-year-old man. Ms. Alawadi picked Fatima up from the scene, but as they drove away, Fatima said, “I love you, Mom,” opened the car door, and jumped out while the vehicle was moving about 35 miles per hour, the affidavit said.

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At the hospital, where she was brought with minor injuries, Fatima refused to talk to the police. But the paramedics told them Fatima had said she jumped because she was being forced to marry her cousin against her will.

In addition, the affidavit states that on the day of her mother’s death, while Fatima was being interviewed by the police, a text message was sent from her phone to an unknown correspondent that read, “The detective will find out tell them cnt talk.”

The police did not return multiple calls requesting comment on Thursday.

Ms. Alawadi’s husband, Kassim Alhimidi, along with her two eldest children, Fatima and Mohammed, 15, are now in Iraq for the funeral, according to Ms. Alawadi’s sister, Esmah Alawadi. They are due to return to the United States later this month.

Esmah Alawadi, who lives in Texas with her husband, disputes a number of the family details that were revealed in the affidavit. She said that she had been her sister’s closest confidante, and that she knew of no plans she had to divorce her husband. She also said that Fatima’s engagement was of her own choosing, to a man she met last year while visiting Iraq.

She said she did not know of any major problems in her sister’s family.

“Arguments have to happen in a family,” Esmah Alawadi said. “We’re not perfect. But we weren’t talking about problems or anything.”

A version of this article appears in print on April 6, 2012, on Page A11 of the New York edition with the headline: Family of a Murdered Immigrant Was in Crisis, Records Show. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe